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The Seventh Cy
2004-11-10 00:30
by Mike Carminati

Roger Clemens won his record seventh Cy Young today and his first in the National League. I didn't have him on my ballot, but what the hey, he is the best pitcher I've ever seen, so what the heck.

Here's a comparison of the pitchers who received Cy Young votes and a few of the more salient non-vote getters based on Bill James' Win Shares, Baseball Prospectus' Value Over Replacement Player (VORP), and Baseball Reference's Adjusted ERA (ERA+). I have split the table in two to fit on the page but note the inconsistency between the players' performance and their votes:

PitcherTeamBattingPitchingFieldingTotal WSRankVORPRkERA+RK
JohnsonARI-1.826.9025169.311714
SheetsMIL-2.322.6020266.821546
ClemensHOU-1.321.3020261.341457
ZambranoCHC-1.120.5019561.341655
PavanoFLO-0.920.6020262.4313710
SchmidtSFG-1.720.7019560.161398
LidgeHOU017.1017939.0112271
PeavySD 161157.581773
HernandezMON0.619019558.3711512
GagneLA 161128.2121892
PerezPIT-1.618.5017954.591398
OswaltHOU-1.319.8018851.81012311

Now the final rankings:

PitcherAvg RkCY VotesRk
Johnson2.00972
Sheets3.3319
Clemens4.331401
Zambrano4.6786
Pavano5.0067
Schmidt6.33135
Lidge7.0019
Peavy7.330NA
Hernandez8.000NA
Gagne8.3338
Perez8.670NA
Oswalt9.67193

It's particularly odd that Ben Sheets, who was second in my comparison, received just one third-place vote. Well, then again a losing record (12-14) will do that.

Anyway, Clemens becomes just the fourth pitcher to win a Cy Young in both leagues. Those four are as follows:

NameLgYr(s)
Gaylord PerryAL1972
NL1978
Pedro MartinezAL1999, 2000
NL1997
Randy JohnsonAL1995
NL1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
Roger ClemensAL1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001
NL2004

There are any number of eccentricities—I am loath to call them records—surrounding Clemens winning his seventh Cy Young. First, the stretch between his first and last Cy Young is the longest by 8 years of any pitcher:

NameFirst CYALast CYADiff
Roger Clemens1986200418
Steve Carlton1972198210
Tom Glavine199119987
Randy Johnson199520027
Tom Seaver196919756
Gaylord Perry197219786
Bret Saberhagen198519894
Sandy Koufax196319663
Pedro Martinez199720003
Jim Palmer197319763
Greg Maddux199219953
Bob Gibson196819702
Denny McLain196819691

He also becomes the first pitcher to win the award in a year predominately after he turned 40. Here are the oldest (Note the age represent the pitcher's age as of July 1 of the given year):

NameYrAge
Roger Clemens200441
Gaylord Perry197839
Early Wynn195939
Roger Clemens200138
Randy Johnson200238
Steve Carlton198237
Dennis Eckersley199237
Randy Johnson200137
Randy Johnson200036
Warren Spahn195736
Steve Carlton198035
Roger Clemens199835
Randy Johnson199935

Actually, Clemens and Johnson are just the second and third pitchers to receive votes after turning 40. The other was Gaylord Perry in 1978, who just turned 40 on September 15 of that year (technically he is considered as being 39 for the season).

Clemens also becomes the 25th pitcher to win a Cy Young for a league in which he had fewer than 20 wins:

NameYrW
Eric Gagne20032
Mark Davis19894
Steve Bedrosian19875
Rollie Fingers19816
Bruce Sutter19796
Dennis Eckersley19927
Willie Hernandez19849
Sparky Lyle197713
Fernando Valenzuela198113
Mike Marshall197415
Rick Sutcliffe198416
David Cone199416
Greg Maddux199416
Randy Johnson199917
Pedro Martinez199717
Pete Vuckovich198218
Pedro Martinez200018
Randy Johnson199518
Mike Scott198618
Roger Clemens199118
Roger Clemens200418
Greg Maddux199519
John Denny198319
Tom Seaver197319
Randy Johnson200019

Of the above pitchers, the top nine of ten were relievers. Valenzuela, Cone, and Maddux pitched in a strike year. And Sutcliffe started 1984 in the American League. So, technically 17 is the lowest for a Cy Young-winning starter in a full season. Maybe Randy Johnson only getting 16 scuttled his prospects this year though it's hard to belief that two wins made all the difference, especially considering that Clemens pitched on a playoff-caliber team and Johnson pitched for the worst team in baseball. At least they didd't bite on Roy Oswalt's 20 wins.

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